CN102449981B - Method and device for dynamic content linked to contact identifiers - Google Patents

Abstract

A system, method, apparatus, and interface for accessing dynamic contact data. The system may include: associating a telephone number with one or more Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for identifying a corresponding data source; submitting a query in the form of a telephone number; retrieving the associated one or more URLs; retrieving data from the data source corresponding to the one or more URLs; and presenting the retrieved data. The associated actions may be performed by a publisher interacting with a service platform server. One or more of the actions of submission, retrieval, and presentation may be performed by a customer interacting with the service platform server.

Description

Method and apparatus for accessing dynamic contact data

technical field

The present system relates to at least one of a method, a user interface and a device for providing seamless access and transfer of dynamic contact data.

Background technique

Many consumers and businesses generate dynamic information. For example, past systems provided status such as about twitter, facebook, blog posts, media shared on social media sites such as flick, facebook, etc. messaging services. Other systems, such as Netflix, provide users with the ability to comment on movies they are watching/plan to watch, bookmark content, etc.

For businesses, this information can be multiple, including schedules for service appointments (eg, doctor, salon), promotions/coupons/deals, news releases, and the like.

A system is provided that can aggregate services available on the Internet, such as lifestream aggregators such as (at friendfeed.com /settings/services) supported by Friendfeed).

Typically, these dynamic updates are published via formats such as RSS and ATOM. The RSS/ATOM format has been heavily used in the Web 2.0 space during the past few years. Each of the above updates is generally available on the web in RSS/ATOM format, or by accessing a given Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

Then, for contact between people, unlike accessing resources on the web where you usually go to a URL or add an RSS feed, the primary unique identifier for a person on a mobile phone is typically at least one phone number for that person. For every contact on the phone, it is almost mandatory to add at least one phone number. Today, more advanced smartphones support including more details such as e-mail addresses, websites, IM dispositions, and the like. But the most important communication disposal on the mobile phone is still to keep the contact phone number.

None of these existing systems provide a system, method, user interface, and apparatus for providing seamless access and delivery of dynamic contact data.

Contents of the invention

The aim of this system is to overcome the disadvantages and/or to make improvements in the prior art.

The system includes a system, method, apparatus and interface for accessing dynamic contact data. The system may include: associating a phone number with one or more Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) identifying a corresponding data source; submitting a query in the form of the phone number; retrieving the associated one or more URLs; Retrieving data from a data source corresponding to the one or more URLs; and presenting the retrieved data. In one embodiment of the system, the associated steps may be performed by a publisher interacting with a service platform server. One or more of the steps of submitting, retrieving and presenting may be performed by a customer interacting with a service platform server.

In one embodiment of the system, the step of submitting a query may include: querying a contact list; and retrieving one or more phone numbers from the contact list, wherein the retrieved one or more phone numbers are the submitted query. In another embodiment of the system, the step of submitting may include: receiving a telephone call on a user device; and retrieving a caller id associated with the telephone call, wherein the retrieved caller id is the submitted Inquire.

This step of submitting queries and retrieving can be performed periodically without further user intervention. This step of submitting a query and retrieving can be performed without further user intervention in response to launching an application on the user device. Additional URLs identifying additional data sources can be associated with the phone number. During the step of associating, the telephone number may be verified as the telephone number of the user performing the associated action. Additionally, the step of associating may include verifying that the one or more URLs correspond to valid data sources. According to an embodiment of the system, at least one of the one or more URLs may correspond to an aggregator data source.

Description of drawings

The invention is explained in further detail and by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a high-level block diagram illustrating a computing system according to an embodiment of the present system;

Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary contact list data structure according to an embodiment of the present system;

Figure 3 illustrates different associations that may be provided between contacts and dynamic data sources according to an embodiment of the present system;

Fig. 4 shows the flowchart of the registration process according to the embodiment of the system;

Fig. 5 has shown the graphic user interface that can realize according to the present system embodiment;

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a method for accessing dynamic contact data according to an embodiment of the present system;

Figure 7 shows a graphical user interface that can be implemented according to an embodiment of the system; and

Figure 8 illustrates a system according to an embodiment of the present system.

Detailed ways

The following is a description of illustrative embodiments which, when taken in conjunction with the following figures, will demonstrate the above-mentioned features and advantages, as well as additional features and advantages. In the following description, illustrative details such as architectures, interfaces, technologies, element attributes, etc. are set forth for purposes of explanation rather than limitation. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments that depart from these details will still be understood to be within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, for the purpose of clarity, detailed descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, tools, techniques and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the present system. It should be expressly understood that the drawings are included for illustrative purposes and do not represent the scope of the present system. In the drawings, the same reference numbers in different drawings may designate similar elements.

For the purpose of simplifying the description of the present system, the terms "operably coupled", "coupled" and their constituents as utilized herein refer to means and/or parts thereof that enable operation in accordance with the present system the connection between. For example, an operative coupling may include a wired connection and/or a wireless connection between two or more devices for enabling a one-way and/or two-way communication path between the devices and/or parts thereof. one or more of . For example, an operative coupling may include a wired and/or wireless coupling to enable communication between a content server and a client device, such as between a dynamic contact data service platform and a client device. Yet another operative coupling according to the system may include one or more couplings between a service platform, a data server, and a client device according to an embodiment of the system.

The term "presenting" and its constituents as utilized herein refers to providing content, such as digital media, such that it can be perceived by at least one of a user's senses, such as sight and/or hearing. For example, the system can present a user interface on a display device so that a user can see and interact with it. Additionally, the system may present data from a data service, present a unique user identifier such as a phone number, present one or more user interfaces, and the like. To simplify the following discussion, the terms data, data services, aggregated data and their constituents will be utilized, and as can be readily appreciated from the context of the data set forth herein, they should be understood to include audio data, Visual data, audiovisual data, textual data, and/or other data types, unless a specific data type is specifically intended.

The term publisher is utilized here, and it is intended to include users (e.g., individuals or businesses) who publish (e.g., original content) some data and/or dynamic data (e.g., such as a data stream provided by Facebook) or make them available , said some data and/or dynamic data can be linked to by phone number according to the present system. A consumer according to the present system may be an individual viewing a publisher's buzz on his/her client (eg, smartphone).

Figure 1 shows a high-level block diagram of a computing system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present system for supporting seamless access and transfer of dynamic contact data. Generally, computing system 100 includes a plurality of server computing nodes 110, 120, 130, 140 and client computing nodes 150 operatively coupled over a backbone of one or more communication networks 160 for to communicate.

The server computing nodes 110, 120, 130 may be web server machines of different service providers for executing server applications to support content delivery (media content, news, data archives, etc.) or to support e-transactions, etc.

For example, content server 120 may provide a web-based service that enables users to publish/share user-generated content (eg, YOUTUBE.COM). The content server 130 may host a lifestreaming platform (such as Facebook) for online content (such as blog posts, social network updates, such as through direct video feeds or by aggregating people). , online photos, etc.) to provide an online record of a person's daily activities.

The network backbone 160 may include a local area network or a wide area network, a corporate intranet, a wireless network (eg, a Bluetooth (Bluetooth) wireless network), a global communication network (eg, the Internet), etc., or any combination thereof. According to the present system, network backbone 160 provides operative coupling between a plurality of server computing nodes 110 , 120 , 130 , 140 and client devices 150 .

Client device 150 may be any type of portable/mobile computing device, such as a laptop computer, portable handheld device (e.g., PDS, mobile phone, smart phone, etc.), that executes one or more software applications , for operation under this system. For example, the client device 150 may include a client-side dynamic contact data service agent 151 adapted for use with server computing nodes including a server computing node 140 according to the present system, which server computing node operates as a dynamic contact data service platform, Such as a server computing node 140, which is hereinafter referred to as a service platform 140. In accordance with the present system, the client 150 is operable to provide communication with the service platform 140 , to send information to the service platform 140 and/or to receive information from the service platform 140 .

The service platform 140 includes functional modules such as an API (application programming interface)/controller module 141, a registration manager module 142, a query processor module 143, a dynamic data management system 144, and a user registry (registry) 145 and a dynamic association data store (store) 146, which are operationally coupled together. The service platform 140 provides an application framework for enabling a user's (eg, customer's) client device 150 to automatically obtain data (such as dynamic data) associated with another user's phone number. The service platform 140 also provides an application framework for enabling a user's client device 150 to register with the service platform 150, where the registration process may include verification of the user's phone number, and data for associating with the user's phone number The ID of the source.

The API module 141 provides a service interface for allowing client devices to access and/or invoke services of the service platform 140 . API module 141 may also provide operational capabilities for advertising, locating, discovering, and registering hardware device services through standard web service interfaces and protocols, as can be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art. Operationally, the API module 141 controls the invocation and processing flow execution of application logic for accessing one or more devices (such as server computing nodes 110, 120, 130) through the network backbone 160 according to the present system. , and/or client device 150) data and/or services, and be accessed by the data and/or services. The API module 141 may include logic for driving the service invocation behavior of the service platform 140 and controlling the flow of run-time logic for operating in accordance with the present system.

For example, API module 141 may provide access to data and/or data services through the operation of dynamic data management system 144, as well as provide access to user registry 145, dynamic contact data repository 146, and server computing nodes 110, 120 , 130 visits. User Registrar 145 is ready to store profiles/records of registered users and publishers of data and data services. The dynamic contact data repository 146 may be prepared to store dynamic data link information, although associated with the user's contact information, but available from the server computing nodes 110 , 120 , 130 to facilitate retrieval of data from the service platform 140 . However, in another embodiment, the dynamic contact data repository 146 may be deleted entirely and the associated linking information may be provided through access to the user registry 145 .

The API module 141 can also prepare the registration of users, and the registration of publishers of data and data services through the operation of the registration/subscription manager 142. Identity of publishers, (registered) data and/or data services, and identity of registered users and/or services may be stored in a user registry, which includes profiles/records of registered publishers and users. For example, the User Registrar 145 may, through the operation of the Registration/Subscription Manager 142, prepare for the registration of users, publishers, data and data services and the association of the users, publishers, data and data services with the user's contact telephone number couplet.

Query processor 143 may be prepared to query one or more of user registry 145 and/or dynamic contact data repository 146 with or without interaction with dynamic data management system 144 .

Client device 150 may be any type of user device, including a portable/mobile computing device, such as a laptop computer, a portable handheld device (e.g., PDS, mobile phone, smart phone, etc.), the portable/mobile computing device One or more software applications are executed for operating in accordance with the system. The client device 150 may include a client-side dynamic contact data service proxy 151 , one or more client applications 152 and a data store 153 . The service agent 151 is adapted to provide user interaction with server computing nodes including the server computing node 140 according to the present system. The service agent 151 operates on the client device 150 to provide a dynamic contact data service platform to users according to the present system.

According to the present system, through the use of service agent 151 , client device 150 is operable to provide communication with service platform 140 , to send information to service platform 140 and/or to receive information from service platform 140 . As a typical client device, the client device 150 may include one or more client applications 152, such as a browser application, a contact list manager, a notepad application, and the like. For example, a browser application can provide user access to data and data services, such as those that can be obtained by accessing server computing nodes 110, 120, 130 independently of service broker 151, as can be readily understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. as understood. However, in accordance with the present system, the browser may be prepared to provide access to the service platform 140 through the operation of the service proxy 151, such as where the service proxy 151 adds functionality to the browser specifically for operating in accordance with the present system. Similarly, one or more of a contact list manager, notepad, etc. may operate as provided in existing systems for maintaining a user's contact (e.g., name), contact information (e.g., contact phone number, e-mail address, address, etc.), appointments, etc. In this regard, the client application 152 may operate locally to the client device 150 using only the data stored in the data store 153, and/or may operate on a remote server (such as a server computing node 110, 120, 130, 140) to operate on data stored on it. For example, the contact list manager may operate by accessing a data service hosted on the server, such as Google Sync, to enable contacting and/or scheduling using the data service hosted on the server Synchronization between table entries.

It should be noted, however, that the service broker 151 can operate through the use of the client application 152 and/or the data store 153 to provide seamless access and delivery of dynamic contact data. For example, data store 153 may include a contact list that includes contact information about users of client device 150 with whom they are associated (eg, friends, family, business customers, service providers, etc.).

Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary contact list data structure according to an embodiment of the present system. Illustratively, the contact list includes one or more contacts 210 , 220 that may be stored on the client computing device 200 . Each of the contacts 210, 220 may include information for one or more contacts, the information including a plurality of information fields. The plurality of information fields may include one or more of an identifier 210 associated with the contact, a home phone number 202, a cell phone number 203, an office phone number 204, and other contact information (such as an email address, etc.). As can be readily appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, identifier 201 is used to identify each contact for a user, such as a given user. In accordance with the present system, another user may utilize one or more portions of contact information (such as a given user's phone number, etc.) )the link to.

According to the present system, one or more applications run on a client device (eg, mobile phone, cell phone, etc.) and communicate with the service platform 140 through a network backbone (such as a network cloud, Internet connection, etc.). According to the present system, there are many different client devices with different functions, each of which can operate through access to the service platform 140 . Regardless of the client device, according to the present system, a link is provided between a contact identifier and dynamic data through the operation of the service platform 140, such as may be provided through a contact list manager application present on the client device. Phone entries are provided, while the dynamic data is provided, such as by one or more of the server computing nodes 110, 120, 130.

Figure 3 illustrates the different associations that may be provided between contacts and dynamic data sources through the operation of the service platform 140 in accordance with embodiments of the present system. Typically, the association is provided during a user's registration/update process, where the user accesses the service platform for registration and/or updating of user information and associated data sources, such as by using a client service agent, including user The contact identifier, and the associated data source, for example, may be provided in a data repository (e.g., computer storage) of a service platform (such as the user registry 145 shown in FIG. 1 ).

Illustratively, data repository 300 may include one or more associations 310 , 320 , 330 . According to the present system, each of said associations 310, 320, 330 provides a contact identifier associated with a link/pointer to a data source, such as link/pointer 312, 313, 323, 324, 333, 334 (such as contact identifiers 311, 321, 322, 331, 332). For example, connection identification 311 is shown as being linked to two different data sources. For example, each of the dynamic data sources 312, 313 will be provided to the user from a user contact management application resident on the client device and/or on the service for hosting the contact application A contact identifier 311 is provided. Each of the dynamic data sources 323 , 324 will be provided to the user for providing any of the contact identifiers 321 , 322 . Dynamic data source 333 will be provided to a user providing contact identifier 331, and dynamic data source 334 will be provided to a user providing contact identifier 332, even though each of contact identifier 331 and contact identifier 332 is related to a single given Relevance is related.

According to the present system, there are many advantages to linking contact identifiers, such as phone numbers, with dynamic data sources. For example, for publishers, linking their phone number(s) to their data (such as an activity stream (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.)) enables any consumer with the publisher's phone number to be aware of the publisher's What is being posted without having to individually visit the sites where the publisher may be posting, etc.

For example, let's assume that Asha is a friend of Steve. Asha has Steve's phone number in her phone address book application. Steve regularly updates his status on Twitter and Facebook, and posts his latest photos to the web album (Flickr). Steve wants to make this information available to all of his friends. In the existing system, Steve would have to provide each of his buddies or others to whom he wishes to provide access with all the information for accessing each information source, or he could pass a data source (e.g., life stream) aggregator (such as Friendfeed) to link these sources, but he must still provide link information to each user to enable access to the aggregated data sources.

However, under the present system, Steve can pull in all of his information to create a single feed for his life stream data (or keep the data sources separate) and only need to provide one or more feeds on the service platform. links (such as one or more of the links shown in Figure 3). In this way, Steve links his phone number with his data source. Operationally, the dynamic data management system creates a link between Steve's phone number and his data, which may include aggregated and/or individual data sources.

Asha now has Steve's phone number in her address book application. Let us assume that there is an application according to the present system running on Asha's phone (eg service agent 151). According to an embodiment of the system, the application accesses Asha's address book phone numbers through the operation of the contact list manager and/or directly by accessing the data store 153 . Then, the application can contact the service platform 140 to obtain corresponding data URL's and access information (when needed), such as the life stream URL. Then, by using the URL (and when required, access information such as password, username, etc.), the application can retrieve Steve's latest postings (e.g., data, streams, etc.) and other users from Asha's address book (when expected). Finally, by using the service agent, the data can be presented on the mobile phone screen within the user interface provided by the service agent and/or provided by the browser application.

Notably, according to the present system, for a given consumer/user, he/she does not have to enter a separate or aggregated data/RSS stream for each given publisher in their contact list. According to the present system, the original publisher of the phone number enters the data and connects/links their data feed, RSS feed (eg, posting feed) via the service according to the present system. Thus, updates to data and data sources can happen without the consumer/user having to do anything, since the publisher phone number is available for most of their contacts in the phone address book.

It should be noted that a service platform according to the present system need not depend on any one particular publishing source, such as a given social media application. For example, a given publisher can publish at any publishing source desired (such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc.). Thereafter, the publisher can go to an aggregation service (such as FriendFeed) and generate a single update stream including all his/her updates. In this case, publishers only need to associate their phone numbers with a single data source (ie, the aggregation service). In a second option, a publisher can register against a service platform according to the system, register against multiple independent and/or aggregated data sources (e.g., data streams) to the service platform, and communicate with a given phone number Associated. In this case, the consumer/user would have to retrieve updates for each data service independently.

Fig. 4 shows a flow diagram of a registration process according to an exemplary embodiment, wherein subscribers may register for services according to the system and thereby enable discovery of their published data (such as with The activity stream or URL's associated with the posted data). In particular, FIG. 4 illustrates one exemplary embodiment of a method that may be implemented by the registry manager module 142 of the dynamic contact data service platform 140 as schematically depicted in FIG. 1 . Specifically, a publisher/subscriber, through operation of the present system, registers a unique contact identifier that is mapped to one or more dynamic data sources of the publisher through the operations illustrated in the flowchart of the registration process.

Operationally, during act 400, a subscriber (publisher) accesses the service platform using any suitable method/application, such as by using a browser application running on the client device, to begin the registration process. This registration process can occur through a well-defined website (as illustratively described below) or through any other class of interaction. For example, in the example below, a user may utilize a web browser to access a particular website hosted by a server according to the system, and may systematically go through the process of linking a contact identifier (e.g., a phone number) with one or more data source for link processing. It should be noted that since the process of registration is so simple, this interaction could occur entirely through a mobile device, such as a cell phone, as well as on any other suitable client device. For example, the entire steps above can be achieved via SMS interaction.

During act 402, the system prompts the user/publisher/subscriber to provide a unique contact identifier. For example, in one exemplary embodiment, a contact identifier may be a phone number, email address, or other personally identifying information that uniquely identifies a specific entity or terminal.

After the system receives a contact identifier input from a user during act 404, a verification process begins during 406 to verify the contact identifier. For example, as depicted in FIG. 5 , a user may utilize user interface 500 to type a unique contact identifier, such as a phone number, into input field 504 . Thereafter, the user can initiate the verification process by clicking on the verification button 506 . There are several ways to verify a phone number. For mobile phones, random numbers may be sent to the user, such as via SMS. Thereafter, the user can access the server platform according to the system to enter as part of the verification process, thereby verifying the phone number. In another embodiment according to the present system, a similar process can be utilized by using a telephone number, where a random number is spoken and the user key-in this number again in a verification form. The purpose of verifying the unique contact identifier is to confirm that the unique contact identifier provided by the user actually belongs to the user who submitted the unique contact identifier, such as a phone number. If the user does not verify the unique contact identifier, it will not be allowed to link the unique contact identifier to the data source.

After the system has verified the phone number, next processing involves associating the activity stream with the phone number during act 410 . Thus, according to the present system, the server allows for the user during act 410 the ability to enter one or more URL links to data and/or one or more data sources (eg, RSS/ATOM links). Again, during act 414, the system verifies that the URL exists, or verifies that the URL (eg, RSS/ATOM link) is a valid format and link. If the link is determined to be invalid during action 416, the system can once again prompt the user to type in a valid link. According to an embodiment of the system, the system may retrieve data corresponding to the link and display the retrieved data to provide the user with an opportunity to confirm that the desired link is provided. Once the link/RSS is verified, the system will provide, during act 418, a link between the provided unique contact identifier(s) (e.g., phone number, email address, etc.) and one or more data sources. map. Thereafter, the system according to the present system is ready to accept inquiries about this telephone number.

As can be readily appreciated, at any point in time, a service platform according to the present system can index unique contact identifiers (eg, multiple phone numbers) and corresponding links. The purpose of the system is to support inquiries from consumers/users. Specifically, in response to an inquiry from a customer providing a unique contact identifier (such as a given phone number), the present system responds by providing the corresponding URL/RSS feed(s) to the client device.

It is to be noted that the present system may support one or more telephone numbers in a single query such as that shown with reference to FIG. 3 . According to the present system, the response may be an indication that no information (info) is available for the provided unique contact identifier, or one or more server platforms and/or methods for providing the consumer/user with a URL/RSS link corresponding to A list of URL/RSS links available to the data client device. As further shown in FIG. 3, the system may support multiple links for a unique contact identifier (eg, a single phone number).

Fig. 6 shows a flowchart of a method for accessing dynamic contact data according to an exemplary embodiment of the present system. Specifically, FIG. 6 is an exemplary mode of operation of the client computing device of FIG. 1, wherein the client device queries the service platform.

Initial actions include, during act 600, initializing and starting a client-side service proxy running on a client computing device for use in dynamically contacting data service providers, such as the service provider) to communicate. Depending on the specific implementation, the client service agent may be initialized and kept running while the client device is switched on, and thus, the client service agent may run continuously (or in the background) while the client device is turned on. Periodically) operate. In other embodiments, the client service agent can be started on demand based on user command or based on some event, and then can be terminated after performing some function such as query and data retrieval.

During 602, a client service agent may obtain one or more unique contact identifiers for one or more contacts, eg, from a contact list stored on the client computing device. Thereafter, during act 604, the one or more unique contact identifiers are provided to the service platform in the form of a query. During act 606, a response is received at the client device from the service platform.

Thereafter, during act 608, the client service agent may confirm whether the response includes link(s). In cases where the response does not include a link, the process may end operations during act 616, or may proceed to receive a further unique identifier. For example, in one embodiment of the present system, a client service agent can retrieve a plurality of unique contact identifiers from a consumer contact list. Each of the unique contact identifications may be provided as a single query, or one or more of the unique contact identifications may be provided at one time.

It is to be understood that the method of FIG. 6 is provided to facilitate an understanding of operation in accordance with the present system. However, it should be understood that this operation is not intended to preclude other operations in accordance with the present system.

The following is an example of client interaction according to an embodiment of the system. Note that the details provided may vary from the present system depending on the client service application and the nature of the client device.

In one embodiment of the present system, buddy data updates may be provided to the customer/user within a portion of a user interface provided on the client device, such as home screen 700 as shown in FIG. 7 . In this scenario, a client service application may be provided on a client device, such as a mobile (e.g., cellular) client device, which reads a phone number from the user's contact list and then queries the service platform server to identify the data source associated with the phone number. The data sources can be aggregated together and presented within a portion 702 of the home screen such that dynamic updates are provided on the phone home screen.

A similar interface may be provided by a client device having a touch sensitive screen which is operated via an input device such as a user's finger or other input device such as a stylus. In this environment, a cursor may or may not be provided, since the location of the selection is directly determined by the location of the interaction with the touch-sensitive screen. Although the GUI utilized to support touch-sensitive input may be somewhat different than the GUI utilized to support eg computer mouse input, for the purposes of the present system, operation is similar. Accordingly, for the purpose of simplifying the foregoing description, the interactions discussed are intended to apply to user interfaces where applicable.

According to an embodiment of the present system, a service agent application may start (or wake up according to a pre-programmed interval). In this embodiment, the client service broker application can read one or more phone numbers in the customer's contact list. For example, in one embodiment, the service broker application may read all contacts in the contact list, or may only read selected contacts (e.g., each contact as specifically indicated by the consumer and/or as indicated by the group (such as each contact provided by the buddy list). Thereafter, the service broker application queries the server platform for the read phone number and retrieves the mapped link, such as from a dynamic contact data repository (see FIG. 1 ). For each link retrieved, the service broker application retrieves the updated data and may present the retrieved data on the client device, such as displaying the retrieved data on a home screen.

According to yet another embodiment of the present system, a special contact list manager/address book may be provided on the client device for providing a "Get status" button. The sequence of events according to an embodiment of the present system is provided as follows: First, the customer/user may navigate to a certain contact in the address book application provided on the client device. After a user selects a given contact, various options may be provided through the address book application including calling, messaging, video calling, and the like. Additionally, according to embodiments of the present system, a "get updates" option such as a radio button may be provided. The user may select "Get Update", after which the enhanced address book application queries the service platform server according to the system with one or more phone numbers (such as all available phone numbers) available for this particular contact. Thereafter, as previously discussed, the service broker application may retrieve links that are mapped to one or more phone numbers, and for each link retrieved, the service broker application may retrieve updated data and may The retrieved data is presented on the computer, such as displaying the retrieved data on a home screen.

According to yet another embodiment of the present system, during or after establishing a phone call, the user can automatically get the latest update of the current caller/publisher just before (eg, when the call has been placed and not yet answered). An illustrative sequence can be provided as follows: For example, for a user currently on a phone call, a user device such as a phone can have a service agent application that can retrieve the current caller's phone number, such as by using a caller id. number, as can be readily appreciated. In this embodiment, the service broker application can use the caller id to query the service platform server, retrieve the corresponding links, and thereafter, for each link, fetch and display the updated data.

As can be readily appreciated, the service broker application can also be ready to present the retrieved data within a concrete user interface provided by the service broker application. For example, according to embodiments of the present system, a user interface for retrieving and presenting dynamic content may be provided. In yet another embodiment, a client device may be enabled to provide data back to one or more of the server computing nodes 110 , 120 , 130 , 140 as shown in FIG. 1 . For example, according to an embodiment, a customer may provide updates to a dynamic data source through operation of a client device. As an example, a physician may publish a calendar of available office hours to a data server, and through interaction with a service platform server according to the present system, this calendar may be mapped to his office phone number. Customers wishing to make an appointment for this physician can enter the service agent application running on their client device and navigate all the way to a list of physician contact information. A customer may select a get data element within the user interface of the service agent application, after which the physician's schedule is retrieved and presented similarly to the other data sources described above. However, according to this embodiment, the service agent application can also provide a make appointment interaction element where the customer can select an available appointment time. This selection can trigger the transfer of appointment information to the physician's data server, by which action the appointment can be confirmed or declined. Regardless, a further update of the physician's data on the client device may confirm acceptance or rejection of the appointment, or the confirmation/rejection may be forwarded independently to the client device according to the system.

FIG. 8 shows a system 800 according to an embodiment of the present system. The system 800 includes: a user device 890 having a processor 810 operatively coupled to a memory 820, a presentation device 830 (such as one or more of a display, a speaker, etc.); A user input device 870 and a content server 880, such as a service platform server (e.g., server 140 shown in FIG. 1 ), one or more server computing nodes (such as, (shown in FIG. 1 ) server computing nodes 110, 120, 130) etc. Memory 820 may be any type of device for storing application data, as well as other data such as unique contact identifiers and the like. Processor 810 may receive the application data and other data to configure the processor 810 to perform operational actions in accordance with the present system. The operational actions include controlling at least one of the presentation devices 830 to present one or more user interfaces described herein. User input 870 may include a keyboard, mouse, trackball, or other device including a touch-sensitive display, which may be stand-alone or part of a system, such as for part of a personal computer, personal digital assistant, mobile phone, converged device, or other presentation device that communicates with the processor 810. The user input device 870 is operable to interact with the processor 810, including interaction within the GUI paradigm and/or other elements of the system, such as to enable web browsing, registration, querying, mapping of the service platform server The retrieval of the URL, the retrieval of the corresponding data, and the like can be easily understood by those of ordinary skill in the art.

According to an embodiment of the present system, presentation device 830 may operate as a touch-sensitive display for communicating with processor 810 (e.g., for providing a selection of web browsers, uniform resource locators (URLs), portions of web pages, etc.) , and thus, the presentation device 830 may also operate as a user input device. In this manner, a user may interact with processor 810, including within a UI paradigm, to support content selection, input of reaction indications, comments, and the like. It is clear that user device 890, processor 810, memory 820, presentation device 830 and/or user input device 870 may be part of a computer system or other device in whole or in part, and/or may be embedded in a portable device ( such as in mobile phones, personal computers (PCs), personal digital assistants (PDAs), integrated devices such as smart phones, etc.).

The method of the system is specifically adapted to be executed by a computer software program, and such program includes modules corresponding to one or more of the steps or actions described and/or conceived in the system. Such a program can of course be embedded in a computer readable medium such as an integrated chip, a peripheral device or a memory (such as memory 820 or other memory coupled to processor 810).

The computer-readable medium and/or memory 820 can be any recordable medium (e.g., RAM, ROM, removable memory, CD-ROM, hard drive, DVD, floppy disk, or memory card), or can be a A transmission medium of one or more of a Bluetooth connection, a Bluetooth connection, an infrared connection, or the like. Any medium known or developed that can store and/or transmit information suitable for use in a computer system can be used as computer-readable media and/or memory 820 .

The operation action may include controlling the presentation device 830 to present elements in the form of a UI, and/or controlling the presentation device 830 to present other information according to the system.

Although not shown for purposes of simplifying the following description, it is readily appreciated that, similar to that shown for user device 890, content server 880 may include a processor, memory, display, and user input, and may host a website, Other networked servers for data services, etc. Accordingly, while the description contained herein focuses on the details of the interactions within the various components of the user device 890 , it should be understood that this applies similarly to the interaction of the various components of the content server 880 .

Processor 810 is capable of providing control signals and/or performing operations in response to input signals from user input device 870 and executing instructions stored in memory 820 . Processor 810 may be a special purpose or general purpose integrated circuit(s). Furthermore, processor 810 may be a specialized processor for execution in accordance with the present system, or may be a general-purpose processor in which only one of numerous functions operates for execution in accordance with the present system. Processor 810 may operate using a program portion, multiple program segments, or may be a hardware device utilizing an application specific or multipurpose integrated circuit.

Ultimately, the above discussion is intended to be illustrative of the present system only, and it should not be construed to limit the appended claims to any particular embodiment or group of embodiments. Yet another embodiment of the present system may provide a user interface operating as a browser extension, such as a browser presented on user device 890 .

Thus, although the system has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments including a user interface, it should also be appreciated that many modifications and variations can be devised by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the present invention as set forth in the following claims. The broader and intended spirit and scope of this system of interpretation. Furthermore, although exemplary user interfaces are provided to facilitate understanding of the system, according to further embodiments of the system, other user interfaces may be provided, and/or elements of one user interface may be combined with another user interface.

The section headings included here are intended to facilitate reference and are not intended to limit the scope of the system. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be treated in an illustrative manner and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims.

In interpreting the appended claims, it should be understood that:

(a) the word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of elements or acts other than those listed in a given claim;

(b) the word "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements;

(c) any reference sign in a claim does not limit the scope of said claim;

(d) several "means" may be represented by the same item or structure or function realized by hardware or software;

(e) any of the disclosed elements may include hardware parts (e.g., including discrete and integrated electronic circuits), software parts (e.g., computer programming), and any combination thereof;

(f) the hardware part may include one or both of analog and digital parts;

(g) unless specifically stated otherwise, any of the disclosed means or parts thereof may be combined together or separated into further parts;

(h) unless specifically stated otherwise, no particular sequence of actions or steps is intended to be required; and

(i) The term "plurality" of elements includes two or more claimed elements and does not imply any specific range of numbers of elements, i.e., a plurality of elements may be as few as two elements and may include an unlimited number of element.

Claims (22)

1. A method for accessing dynamic contact data comprising the actions of: associating the phone number with one or more Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) identifying the corresponding data source; Submit an inquiry in the form of a telephone number; Retrieve the associated URL or URLs; retrieve data from a data source corresponding to the one or more URLs; and Renders the retrieved data. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of associating is performed by a publisher interacting with a service platform server. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the acts of submitting, retrieving and presenting are performed by a customer interacting with a service platform server. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of submitting a query comprises the act of: inquiry contact list; and One or more telephone numbers are retrieved from the contact list, wherein the retrieved one or more telephone numbers are the submitted query. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of submitting a query comprises the act of: receive phone calls on the user device; and A caller id associated with the telephone call is retrieved, where the retrieved caller id is the submitted query. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the acts of submitting a query and retrieving are performed periodically without further user intervention. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the acts of submitting a query and retrieving are performed without further user intervention in response to launching an application on a user device. 8. The method of claim 1, comprising the act of associating the telephone number with an additional URL identifying an additional data source. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of associating comprises the act of verifying that the telephone number is that of the user performing the act of associating. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of associating comprises the act of verifying that the one or more URLs correspond to valid data sources. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more URLs corresponds to an aggregator data source. 12. A device for accessing dynamic contact data comprising: means for associating a telephone number with one or more Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for identifying corresponding data sources; Components for submitting inquiries in the form of phone numbers; means for retrieving the associated URL or URLs; means for retrieving data from a data source corresponding to the one or more URLs; and The widget used to render the retrieved data. 13. The apparatus for accessing dynamic contact data according to claim 12, wherein said means for associating is performed by a publisher device interacting with a service platform server. 14. The device for accessing dynamic contact data according to claim 12, wherein one or more of said means for submitting, said means for retrieving and said means for presenting are comprised of In a customer device interacting with a service platform server. 15. The device for accessing dynamic contact data according to claim 12, wherein said means for submitting queries a contact list and retrieves one or more phone numbers from the contact list, wherein the retrieved one or more phone numbers are the submitted inquiries. 16. The apparatus for accessing dynamic contact data according to claim 12, wherein said means for submitting receives a telephone call on a user device and retrieves a caller id associated with the telephone call, wherein the retrieved The caller id is the submitted query. 17. The device for accessing dynamic contact data according to claim 12, wherein said means for submitting and said means for retrieving operate periodically without further user intervention. 18. The apparatus for accessing dynamic contact data according to claim 12 , wherein said means for submitting and said two means for retrieving respond without further user intervention in response to initiating a application to operate. 19. The device for accessing dynamic contact data of claim 12, further comprising means for associating the telephone number with an additional URL identifying a source of additional data. 20. The device for accessing dynamic contact data according to claim 12, wherein said means for associating verifies that the phone number is the phone number of the user performing the action of associating. 21. The apparatus for accessing dynamic contact data according to claim 12, wherein said means for associating verifies that the one or more URLs correspond to valid data sources. 22. The device for accessing dynamic contact data of claim 12, wherein at least one of the one or more URLs corresponds to an aggregator data source.